Weir ring and downcomer assembly for distilling columns



3 Shee'cs-SheetI 1 T. O. WENTWORTH Filed Dec. 16, 1936 gj-f? WEIR RING AND DOWNCOMER ASSEMBLY FOR DISTILLING COLUMNS May 21, 1940.

May 21,- 3940. T. o. WENTWORTH 23019949 WEIR RING AND DOWNCOMER ASSEMBLY FOR DISTILLING COLUMNS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 16. 1936 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

May 2L T. o. WENTWORTH WEIR RING AND DOWNCOMER ASSEMBLY FOR DISTILLING COLUMNS I- TTL TIT HTIT 'illilili www# .j im a, um BY A ./udf

h ATTORNEY.

' 20 the lower portion 1 .35 dotted lines.

Patented May 21, 1949 2,901,949 AND DowNcoMEn ASSEMBLY WEIR RING PATENT o FFIcE FOR DISTILLING COL'UIWNS Theodore 0.

signor to The Vulcan Wentworth, Cincinnati, Ohio, as-

Copper & Supply Co.,

Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation oi `Ohio Application' December 1s, 1936, serial No. 116,109

, 3 Claims.

This invention relates to Weir ring and downcomer constructions for distilling columnsl in which the Weir ring comprises a shallow member adapted to rest upon the upper face of an appropriate one of the plurality of' trays heldin spaced relation within a distilling column, the Weir ring surrounding an opening in the trayand the downcomer elementsv comprise pipes having flanges which are connected to bracket arms pro-g jected from the Weir ring.

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a view in elevation, partly broken away, of a distilling column, and showing certain interior lmembers in dotted lines, comprising a plurality of superposed shell sections each enclosing a-plurality of plates which may be of the bubble cap type or of any other suitable type.

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical section through of the column and partly broken away to show the interior of two shell sections and the supporting base.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of one of the plates, illustrating more particularly one type of down- 25 comer assembly forrun-oif of the reflux liquid from one plate to the next lower plate. y

Figure 4 is a view in side elevation of the plate .shown in the preceding figure, with the downcomer assembly applied thereto, the seal cup be- 30 low the assembly being shown in vertical section.

Referring to Figs. i to 3 inclusive of the drawings, it will be seen that the upper and lower portions of a distilling column are show n in elevation with certain. interior members indicated in The heavy supporting ring I carries the base cylindrical shell`2. The ring I is formed with an upper horizontal' flange la: which is, in practice, bolted. to the lower `horizontal flange' 2a: oi shell 2. These ange members hold o between them a dished base plate 3 for shell I, which will be of very heavy construction, since it will in the present embodiment, act as the primary supporting member i'or the horizontal plates of the column. Another suitable construction is the use of a ilat bottom plate, backed by a heavy steel plate, or suitable level foundation, capable of supporting the load.

Plate 3 is formed with a flange 3a: lying between th'e flanges Irc'and 2a: and bolted thereto by'means of bolts, one of which is shown at 4, Fig. 2. Asuitable packing ring or rings may be employed, as indicated 'at 5, Fig. 2.

Welded to the upper surface of plate 3 are aplurality of seat members 6 which may be located 55 at the positions indicated at 6.1:. Thus, in the .relative rotation of the port of the superposed present embodiment, eleven seats are employed.

. Each seat at its top is provided with a recess having a true horizontal base to receive the primary vsupporting posts 1 which may be tubular in form,

as shown in Fig. 2. When the posts 1 are tubular, 5 each post may receive at its top a horizontally flanged cap member 8 provided with an upwardly extending nipple 8x adapted to pass through an aperture formed in the rst tray 9 at the appropriate one of the positions 6m.

As stated above, the' plates may support-bubble caps or the plates themselves may be perforated to allow contact directly of vapors rising through perforations to the liquid supported on top of the plates. In Fig. 2 of the drawings, bubble caps are 15 shown at I0.

Each nipple 8a: is received within the recess of a spacer post Il, preferably formed with a base flange and with a top ange I Ia: upon which the succeeding tray as, for example,-l2, Fig. 2, is supported in true horizontal position, each spacer post II being provided above flange IIa: with a nipple I im: which enters the base recess ci' a superposed spacer post, as, for example, I3, Fig. 2.

In some cases, particularly those plates between which fall 'the flanged joints of adjoining column sections, it may be desired to provide a longitudinal adjustment for the spacer posts and to that end, the post I3 shown completely illustrated in Fig.. 2, is sectional. The lower section is formed with a threaded axial aperture to receive the threaded stem of the upper section which bears the numeral |32: and it is the upper section which is formed with a anged seat to, receive the overlying tray indicated at I4. By 35 two post sections I3, |33, an adjustment in length may be secured. Section I 3a: is formed with an upwardly projecting nipple to pass through the tray I4 and in turn to receive the superposed post for an voverlying tray. o This arrangement will be continued for the suptrays until the top of the column is reached, and the number of cylindrical shells and the number of the trays in each one may be varied at will, in accordance with the required conditions.

While the load is taken by the colinear posts after final field assembly, the trays may be supported in shipment by continuous rings (not shown) underlying the trays and carried by the .50 cylindral sections or by a p uralityl of lugs such as shown in Fig. 2. In that ligure the upwardly extending lug 22 is carried by a short vertical plate or bracket arm 23 having a threaded stem which passes through 4the shell and which has g5 l secured to the end thereof a nut 2t, washers being preferably used to surround the threaded end both interiorly and exteriorly of the shell section. Each shell, at its top, will be provided with an outwardly extending horizontal flange l5 upon which is superposed the lower flange of a surmounting shell section like the flange 2x of shell section 2 and therefore bearing the same numeral. Likewise, a. packing ring or gasket 5 may be imposed between the two. Flange and heavy clamping rings lli may be employed to directly receive the bolts 4l.

It will be seen from the. above a. plurality of spacer posts are prepared with each one identical in dimensions with the others. By an arrangement of plugs and holes, screw threads, key ways,

or other suitable mechanical designs, these posts are arranged to set upon the plate immediately above the posts beneath and in this way the weight of each is transmitted downwardly through the successively lower posts to the heavy base plate at the bottom of the column which may in some cases be supported on the floor. By reason of the uniform dimensions of the posts, lt is obvious that every plate above the lowest plate will be parallel with the lowest plate and with each other, and that by proper levelling of the column as a whole, all plates will be absolutely level. This has not been the case in columns of previous designs in which the plates were joined to the column shell itself.

A feature of my invention is the construction of the down pipes which heretofore have' been fastened in by various modifications of the standard brazing or welding technique. As shown in the drawings, I have separated the two functions of the downcomer pipe which are: (l) a Weir to maintain a constant level of liquid on the plate and allow overflow from the plate, and (2) a down pipe carrying this liquid to the plate beneath and suitably trapped in the liquid on the plate beneath. This downcomer assembly is in two parts-a. circular, ovaloid, or other suitably shaped weir arrangement enclosing a space and machined on top and bottom with parallel faces sothat the edge will everywhere be the same distance above the plate.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings, the Weir ring l1 is ovalold in shape and is formed with a plurality oi inwardly projected bracket arms I8 provided with holes for the bolts (not shown) which are applied to the flanges i9 of the downcomer pipes 20. The downcomer pipes will be provided with clips 2l for securing thereto the seal cup 22 in the case of the lowermost plate of the column. In all other cases the seal is provided by the liquid on the next lower plate.

This assembly may be cheaply constructed and has the advantage that it requires no brazing to the plate and therefore no heating of the plate which tends to4 distort the copper sheet.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. In a distilling column, a plurality of trays held in spaced relation within the column and a downcomer assembly comprising a weir ring, the weir ring being mounted on the appropriate tray and having projected bracket arms, and a plurality of downcomer pipes having flanges, and means connecting the flanges of the downcomer pipes to the bracket arms of the weir ring, the said pipes communicating with apertures in the tray at that area bounded bythe weir ring.

2. In a distilling column, a plurality of trays held in spaced relation within the column and a downcomer assembly comprising a weir ring, the weir ring comprising a shallow member adapted to rest upon the upper face of an appropriate tray and to surround an opening therein, a plurality of bracket arms projected inwardly from the weir ring, a downcomer pipe having at its upper end a laterally projected flange, the flange being apertured and contacting with the lower face of the tray and surrounding the opening therein, and bolts detachably connecting the downcomer pipe ange and the bracket arms of the weir ring.

3. In a distilling column, a weir ring and down comer pipe construction, in accordance with 'claim 2, in which the Weir ring is ovaloid in form and is provided with two sets of bracket arms and the tray is formed with two openings, each opening being bounded at its underface by the flange of a downcomer pipe, each flange being bolted to an appropriate set of bracket arms of the weir ring.

THEODORE O. WENTWOR'I'H.

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